Is lower than the normal pulse in fitness people a good thing or is it a myth?

[FitnessMike]

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[MyUsernameHere]

I think it depends.

It seems that some degree of heart rate reduction is a normal consequence of increased cardiovascular and aerobic capacity. This would be good.

If it is a result of overtraining and concurrent hypothyroidism, probably not good.

 

[liam183]

To some extent, this is okay. For example, many endurance athletes I've known have had low pulses and great conditioning with 0 thyroid issues. On the other hand, if you have thyroid issues or are prone to them, this can be a negative. I personally had a pulse of 45 one day around an hour after a wrestling practice, which I would consider much too low to be optimal. I think athletes can be in the 70s resting with no issues, but anything lower could potentially be indicative of overtraining.

 

[jmparret]

I had a pulse rate in the 30's for 20 years, it increased when my thyroid problems started. I was 50 and my thyroid issues had started (hypothyroid and thyroid storm) and pretty much resolved and my doctor would be upset with me because my pulse rate was 60. He would have been very upset had he seen me 10 years earlier. He was not in good shape and did not exercise.

 

[FitnessMike]

bump

 

[Perry Staltic]

It can be a sign of a strong heart and/or good vascular health. For the same energy it will take less beats to pump the same volume of blood when there's less vascular resistance.

 

[cremes]

Rather than focus on pulse rate, measure and track your HRV (heart rate variability). This is the amount of time between beats. Generally speaking, a healthier heart has more variability between beats than an unhealthy heart. As the variability shrinks and your heart beats more monotonically, that is a classic sign of stress.

Here's a good set of blog posts on the topic from a researcher (who has a financial interest via products he sells, whatev).

Marco Altini – Medium

Read writing from Marco Altini on Medium. Founder HRV4Training.com, Data Science @ouraring Lecturer @VUamsterdam. PhD in Machine Learning, 2x MSc: Sport Science, Computer Science Engineering. Runner.

medium.com

I wear an Oura ring and track my HRV. When I drink alcohol, the HRV moves towards 0 (no variability). When I'm healthy, it moves up. However, the topic is more nuanced than that. There's a healthy range for each individual, so tracking your own range and how you move through that range over time is pretty interesting.

 

[joaquin]

"fitness people"

 

[FitnessMike]

Rather than focus on pulse rate, measure and track your HRV (heart rate variability). This is the amount of time between beats. Generally speaking, a healthier heart has more variability between beats than an unhealthy heart. As the variability shrinks and your heart beats more monotonically, that is a classic sign of stress.

Here's a good set of blog posts on the topic from a researcher (who has a financial interest via products he sells, whatev).

Marco Altini – Medium

Read writing from Marco Altini on Medium. Founder HRV4Training.com, Data Science @ouraring Lecturer @VUamsterdam. PhD in Machine Learning, 2x MSc: Sport Science, Computer Science Engineering. Runner.

medium.com

I wear an Oura ring and track my HRV. When I drink alcohol, the HRV moves towards 0 (no variability). When I'm healthy, it moves up. However, the topic is more nuanced than that. There's a healthy range for each individual, so tracking your own range and how you move through that range over time is pretty interesting.

what i tried to figure out is whether "athletes" low resting pulse could be indicator of a "good fitness?" in some cases, or if your resting pulse drops below lets say 70 beats per minute, it will always indicate suboptimal metabolism.

I guess that if your resting pulse is low, but your completely healthy with no symptoms of compromised metabolism, that would be OK, but thats rather commonsensical assumption.of mine.

 

[cremes]

what i tried to figure out is whether "athletes" low resting pulse could be indicator of a "good fitness?" in some cases, or if your resting pulse drops below lets say 70 beats per minute, it will always indicate suboptimal metabolism.

It "could be" an indicator of good fitness. But using a single variable like pulse rate isn't a great idea. There could be other reasons for the low pulse rate which are related to an illness.

In an athlete, it's likely indicating good fitness. But in the general population, it's a terrible indicator.

You need a few indicators that, when aggregated, indicate good fitness. I'd suggest:

* Low resting pulse rate
* HBR (heart beat recovery) of 20-30 beats per minute (this is the rate at which your heart rate returns to normal after strenuous exercise)
* Stable HRV between 25 and 55 milliseconds
* Stable blood pressure, but 100-125 systolic with 60-80 diastolic
* Stable body temperature between 98F and 99F

 

[FitnessMike]

It "could be" an indicator of good fitness. But using a single variable like pulse rate isn't a great idea. There could be other reasons for the low pulse rate which are related to an illness.

In an athlete, it's likely indicating good fitness. But in the general population, it's a terrible indicator.

You need a few indicators that, when aggregated, indicate good fitness. I'd suggest:

* Low resting pulse rate
* HBR (heart beat recovery) of 20-30 beats per minute (this is the rate at which your heart rate returns to normal after strenuous exercise)
* Stable HRV between 25 and 55 milliseconds
* Stable blood pressure, but 100-125 systolic with 60-80 diastolic
* Stable body temperature between 98F and 99F

cheeeeers